Harris County Hospital District

The Harris County Hospital District in Houston Texas has in turning away on insured patients from other countries unless they are able to pay in advance or require emergency care.

It was mentioned that the new policy is one of several strategies the district is pursuing to prevent “cataclysmic” effects on patients as the state is considering cuts that could take nearly 10% of the entire districts budget. This cut should not effect the Lasik eye surgery Houston facilities.

Federal law mandates that if a patient goes into a hospital with a medical emergency they must be treated. However, many people go to the emergency room with very common and routine illnesses which does not fall into a medical emergency category.
During the last fiscal year treating uninsured and out of the country patients for non-emergency issues has cost the hospital district about $3.9 million. As you can see, this causes severe financial stress on our local hospitals and medical clinics. Laser eye surgery Houston is not expected to be affected by this issue.